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NATURAL  SCIENCE  IN  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS. 


1  OtW// 


There  are  two  leading  views  of  the  object  of  teaching  natural  sciences,  one  of  long  t 
standing  and  the  other  of  more  recent  growth.  According  to  the  former,  the  aim  of 
such  teaching  is  to  furnish  material  knowledge  and  give  the  student  a  certain  amount 
of  practical  training  for  making  that  knowledge  effective  in  business  affairs.  The 
later  idea  is  to  supply  a  general  intellectual  training,  so  as  to  lit  students  to  acquire 
knowledge  for  themselves.  As  in  practical  life  ability  to  acquire  is  preferable  to 
simple  possession,  so  in  intellectual  matters  the  same  preference  exists,  but  in  a 
greater  degree.  Moreover  there  is  so  much  to  be  taught,  while  the  time  at  our  dis¬ 
posal  is  very  limited,  that  a  just  selection  of  subject  matter  is  extremely  difficult, 
particularly  since  scholars  of  the  present  age  often  have  not  decided  what  occupation 
they  will  follow,  and,  even  when  they  have  made  a  choice  subsequent  events  fre¬ 
quently  change  all  their  plans.  Aside  from  this  consideration,  moreover,  if  the  only 
point  were  to  impart  to  young  students  a  definite  amount  of  useful  information  com¬ 
mitted  to  memory,  it  would  be  better  to  furnish  them  at  once  with  books  of  reference, 
which  are  more  reliable  than  memory  and  which  would  also  cost  the  state  less  than 
the  employment  of  teachers.  Besides,  the  memory  is  so  much  exercised  in  other 
ways,  and  other  departments  of  instruction  make  such  heavy  demands  upon  it,  that 
it  ought  not  to  be  too  heavily  burdened  by  an  additional  amount  of  scientific  study 
in  which  an  effort  is  made  to  learn  a  variety  of  things,  names,  and  classifications 

that  only  arouse  curiosity  for  the  moment  and  soon  deaden  intellectual  activity.  Of 

•  •  •  •  *" 
course  one  gets  on  faster  with  a  child  by  carrying  it,  but  it  is  J$r_ the. child’s  interest 

to  teach  it  to  run  and  to  swim  by  itself.  In  the  same  way  it  is  better  not  to  give  young 
jscholars  scientific  knowledge  ready  made,  but  to  teach  them  the  way  to  it.  By  im¬ 
parting  to  them  results  obtained  by  others  the  ideal  purpose  of  instruction  is  seriously 
prejudiced,  the  sense  of  scientifically  accurate  thinking  is  destroyed,  the  belief  in 
authority  is  increased  instead  of  checked,  and  the  mind  becomes  surfeited  instead  of 
finding  pleasure  in  the  exercise  of  its  powers. 

This  partly  explains  why  high  school  teachers  often  prefer  those  of  their  scholars 
who  have  received  no  scientific  education  to  those  who  have  received  an  ill  taught 
smattering  of  it.  But  the  success  of  systematic  scientific  studies  in  high  schools 
would  be  much  greater,  and  above  all  much  more  certain,  if  the  students  had 
been  previously  well  and  methodically  taught  in  the  preliminaries  in  intermediate 
schools.  If  such  a  strict,  methodical  mental  training  is  omitted  in  the  intermediate 
schools  its  loss  can  hardly  be  supplied  in  the  high  schools. 

A  certain  amount  of  fundamental  knowledge  is  of  course  necessary  to  the  student, 
but  this  is  gradually  gained  by  practical  exercise  in  elementary  work  in  natural 
history,  using  meanwhile  as  material  for  instruction  in  such  study  familiar  objects 
and  the  more  noticeable  phenomena  of  daily  occurrence  instead  of  rarities  and  curi¬ 
osities.  Such  knowledge  is  also  more  firmly  fixed  in  the  mind  by  observation  than 
by  memorizing  alone.  Natural  science  is  an  experimental  science,  and  the  beginner 
must  follow  the  path  marked  out  by  it  in  order  to  reach  the  same  end.  This  he 
must  do  not  by  laboriously  committing  to  memory  the  material  of  his  knowledge  as 
recorded  in  books,  but  by  learning  it  through  his  own  observation.  It  should  not  bo 

O  3 

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•''acquired  in  a  systematic  but  in  a  methodical  way.1  Teachers,  and  particularly  those- 
who  are  beginners  in  their  profession,  often  make  the  mistake  of  trying  to  teach 
their  scholars  the  advanced  knowledge  of  their  own  college  studies,  and  of  supposing 
that  fifteen  year  old  boys  are  able  to  digest  matter  in  a  concentrated  form  which 
they  themselves  could  only  master  at  the  university  after  numerous  demonstrations. 
They  forget  that  young  pupils  have  not  sufficiently  developed  ideas  for  such  instruc¬ 
tion,  and  that  consequently  they  ought  not  to  proceed  with  them  from  the  general  to 
the  particular,  that  is  to  say,  according  to  the  analytical  method,  but  should  first 
establish  a  foundation  of  individual  observations  which  can  finally  be  united  synthet¬ 
ically  into  a  general  idea. 

Starting  from  these  general  considerations  the  following  method  of  science  teach¬ 
ing  is  proposed : 

In  such  instruction  the  first  thing  necessary  is  practice  in  observing  and  in  the 
use  of  all  the  senses  for  that  purpose.  Gymnasts,  painters,  and  musicians  teach  us 
that  constant  practice  alone  brings  the  muscles  to  obey  perfectly  the  commands  of 
the  will,  and  the  same  is  true  of  the  senses.  Not  every  one  who  can  see  sees  care¬ 
fully  and  accurately.  And  herein  lies  the  superiority  of  the  trained  observer,  that 
he  has  learned  to  notice  the  numerous  forms  and  appearances  of  things  so  that  he  at 
once  sees  in  them  a  great  deal  which  others  do  not  see  at  all. 

This  constant  exercise  in  carefully  observing  objects  of  study  should  of  course  be 
progressive  from  the  easy  and  simple  to  the  difficult.  At  first  individual  things  are 
to  be  studied  by  themselves,  care  being  taken  not  to  select  objects  from  too  limited 
a  circle ;  not  to  confine  the  attention  to  mammals  for  instance  while  studying  the 
animal  kingdom,  but  to  take  examples  from  all  classes  and  divisions  of  nature.  After¬ 
wards  comes  a  comparison  of  these  things  previously  studied  separately,  so  as  to 
bring  out  their  resemblances  and  differences.  This  leads  finally  to  a  bringing  to¬ 
gether  of  all  the  things  observed,  the  pupils  being  confined  to  their  own  observations 
and  making  from  them  a  general  summary,  or  what  may  be  called  a  system.  In  the 
higher  grades  of  secondary  schools  it  is  indispensable  to  point  out'  that  the  princi¬ 
pal  systematic  ideas  (such  as  species,  genus,  &c.)  are  always  obtained  byT  this  sum¬ 
ming  up  into  one  idea  of  scattered  facts  of  observation. 

Since  plants  offer  the  most  abundant  material  for  study  and  also  early  attract  the 
attention  of  children,  it  is  well  to -begin  the  course  of  instruction  with  them  and  pro¬ 
ceed  to  the  study  of  animals  later.  The  examination  and  determination  of  minerals 
are  subjects  much  more  difficult  to  learn.  Although  the  forms  of  minerals  are  much 
simpler  than  those  of  plants  or  animals,  yet  the  beginner  will  find  it  much  more 
difficult  to  tell  the  normal  from  the  accidental  in  them  than  in  other  cases,  as  well 
as  to  be  able  to  detect  the  regular  or  normal  forms  of  one  and  the  same  mineral 
when  disguised  by  accidental  causes.  Moreover,  before  mineralogy  can  be  success¬ 
fully  taught,  students  must  have  some  knowledge  of  physics,  chemistry,  and  stere¬ 
ometry.  However,  every  scholar  should  be  induced  to  notice  how  various  kinds  of 
minerals  and  rocks  present  themselves  in  mass  in  his  own  neighborhood,  and  learn  to 
know  them.  By  what  they  will  have  learned  so  far  of  natural  science  young  students 
will  have  reached  as  a  material  result  of  their  studies  a  development  of  the  sense  of 
form,  an  enlargement  of  their  knowledge  of  material  things  and  of  their  ideas  about 
them,  and  the  perception  that  the  earth  is  a  whole  made  up  of  interdependent  indi¬ 
vidual  parts. 

In  the  next,  higher  grade,  training  in  observation  should  be  directed  towards  mak- 

1  By  systematic  instruction  the  author  means  teaching  the  general  principles  or  ‘-laws  ”  which  are 
the  results  of  generalizing  from  individual  observations,  without  showing  how  these  general  juin- 
ciples  were  reached.  These  “  laws  ”  or  principles  when  classified  and  arranged  form  systems.  By 
methodical  instruction,  on  the  other  hand,  he  means  teaching  the  mode  of  reaching  these  general  prin¬ 
ciples,  viz,  by  bringing  together  into  one  genei-al  idea  a  sufficient  number  of  isolated  observations. 
This  is  the  inductive  method,  and  he  insists  upon  first  instructing  science  scholars  in  this  way  before 
Xjermitting  the  use  of  the  reverse  operation,  viz,  deduction  from  the  laws  ”  so  obtained  to  individual 
cases.  This  deductive  method  he  also  calls  analytical. 


5 


ing  comparisons  of  the  different  stages  of  development  of  the  same  organism,  that  is- 
to  say,  the  pupils  should  commence  the  study  of  natural  history.  At  the  same  time, 
in  studying  the  changes  which  bodies  experience  under  the  influence  of  such  forces 
as  do  not  affect  their  nature  or  substance,  the  domain  of  physics  is  reached.  Subse¬ 
quently,  because  more  difficult  for  beginners,  comes  instruction  in  observing  the 
mutual  changes  of  their  substance  which  bodies  exert  upon  each  other  by  which 
their  nature  is  radically  altered,  and  here  begins  the  study  of  chemistry.  By  thus 
leading  the  pupil  in  an  orderly  manner  to  observe  the  various  changes  to  which  bodies 
are  subject,  an  idea  is  obtained  of  the  real  meaning  of  the  word  “nature”  (from 
nasci,  to  be  born)  as  expressing  something  which  is  constantly  and  forever  springing 
into  being  and  constantly  changing  into  new  forms,  so  that  the  scholar  learns  to 
think  of  nature  as  a  whole  moved  and  quickened  by  internal  forces. 

Hand  in  hand  with  observation  goes  discipline  in  describing  the  things  observed. 
One  single  observation  accurately  made  is  of  more  value  than  a  thousand  anecdotes 
and  illustrations, with  which  many  teachers  believe  they  ought  to  enliven  their  instruc¬ 
tion.  It  is  not  the  teacher,  however,  but  the  scholar  who  ought  to  make  the  de¬ 
scription  of  the  things  under  observation,  that  is,  the  things  he  has  himself  observed, 
not  the  things  with  which  he  has  burdened  his  memory  without  observation.  Accurate 
description  (with  drawings,  if  possible)  serves  as  a  check  upon  the  inaccuracy  of  the 
observations,  and  besides  gives  students  a  correct  comprehension  of  words  with 
which  they  are  already  familiar,  or  by  leading  them  to  look  up  new  terms  enriches 
their  vocabulary  and  develops  a  versatility  in  the  use  of  language,  particularly  if  the 
teacher  is  strict  in  limiting  them  to  the  use  of  general  terms.  Practice  in  giving 
definitions  should  be  undertaken  at  the  same  time.  This  kind  of  scientific  teaching 
would  be  a  capital  aid  to  instruction  in  the  mother  tongue,  and  In  a  way  for  which 
there  is  no  substitute ;  for  here  there  is  a  kind  of  direct  translation  out  of  nature 
into  one’s  own  speech.  In  fact  there  are  in  this  case  neither  words  nor  forms  of  sen¬ 
tences  to  start  with,  and  the  authority  and  help  of  dictionaries  are  wanting,  so  that 
the  student  has  to  rely  upon  himself  and  must  acquire  a  good  degree  of  independence  in 
giving  his  ideas.  The  objection  that  the  same  end  could  be  reached  by  the  ordinary 
instruction  in  the  mother  tongue  as  an  accompaniment  to  natural  science  teaching  is 
not  a  sound  one,  because  the  teacher  of  languages  is  unfortunately  too  often  destitute 
of  the  necessary  material  knowledge,  and  is  often  also  ignorant  of  the  methodical  way 
of  schooling  the  mind  which  should  be  followed  in  teaching  the  natural  sciences.  Of 
course  this  practice  in  giving  clear  descriptions  would  follow  the  progress  of  the  sub¬ 
ject  matter  taught  —  from  the  easy  to  the  difficult  —  and  the  selection  of  material  for 
this  reason  also  ought  to  he  varied  as  much  as  possible.  After  scholars  have  learned 
to  understand  the  accurate  significance  of  words  by  the  method  above  sketched  out 
they  will  be  better  qualified  to  convey  their  own  ideas  in  a  simple  and  clear  way  to 
others,  and  also  understand  more  fully  the  meaning  of  what  is  said  to  them,  a  faculty 
of  the  greatest  importance  in  practical  life  as  well  as  an  essential  requisite  of  educa¬ 
tion  in  general. 


Instruction  in  natural  science  should  also  be  a  training  in  thinking.  Pupils  should 
be  led  to  form  general  ideas  or  laws  from  the  objects  of  study  and  the  phenomena  pre¬ 
sented  to  them,  to  draw  conclusions  upon  the  causes  pf  such  phenomena,  and  predict 
the  future  action  of  the  causes  they  have  learned  to  know.  In  this  way  not  only  a 
knowledge  but  also  an  understanding  of  nature  is  reached.  If  the  young  student  is 
led  to  reflect  upon  the  meaning  of  the  most  commonplace  natural  phenomena,  to  in¬ 
vestigate  them  himself  and  compare  them  together  (as,  for  instance,  the  form,  color, 
and  smell  of  flowers,  the  color,  coverings,  and  structure  of  fruits  and  seeds,  the  form 
and  color  of  the  organs  of  animals,  &c.),  he  will  find  that  while  advancing  in  knowl¬ 
edge  the  tediousness  of  having  to  learn  is  done  away  with  and  pleasure  takes  its 
place.  As  the  material  result  of  this  side  of  teaching  natural  science,  the  convic 
tion  will  spring  up  in  the  mind  of  the  pupil  that  all  phenomena  are  governed  by 
fixed,  eternal,  and  unchangeable  laws. 


6 


To  what  lias  been  said  should  be  added  a  few  words  about  teachers,  school  books, 
methods  aud  means  of  teaching,  inspectors,  and  natural  history  collections,  &c. 

The  teacher  of  natural  science  ought  to  have  the  necessary  special  scientific  school¬ 
ing  for  that  purpose.  In  no  department  of  instruction  is  it  less  permissible  to  teach 
authoritatively  than  in  this,  and  to  make  it  a  subordinate  branch  for  a  teacher  not 
specially  prepared  for  it  is  often  worse  than  to  provide  no  scientific  instruction  what¬ 
ever  ;  for  the  teacher  must  not  only  be  master  of  the  material  he  teaches,  but  ought 
also  to  be  a  model  of  the  intellectual  training  he  tries  to  impart;  he  should  have  the 
capacity  to  observe,  describe,  and  reason  accurately  about  the  material  of  study. 
In  order  to  give  his  instruction  in  such  a  way  as  to  incite  his  pupils  to  an  interested 
activity  in  their  studies,  it  is  indispensable  for  him  constantly  to  try  to  develop  his 
own  intellectual  powers  further,  and  continually'  refresh  them  by  special  studies 
(which,  however,  should  not  be  introduced  into  the  school).  Not  only  should  every 
lesson  be  well  prepared,  but  after  every  lesson  the  teacher  should  give  himself  an 
account  of  the  result  of  his  instruction,  and,  in  case  of  ill  success,  he  should  ascribe 
its  cause  to  himself  rather  than  to  his  pupils,  so  as  to  avoid  mistakes  in  future.  One 
of  the  commonest  faults  of  teachers  is  that  in  order  to  get  on  with  their  pupils  as 
fast  as  possible  they  themselves  describe  the  objects  or  phenomena  under  considera¬ 
tion  and  derive  laws  from  them,  instead  of  allowing  the  scholars  to  do  so.  They 
predigest,  in  other  words,  to  a  certain  extent,  the  intellectual  food  which  they  ought 
to  allow  the  scholars  to  attack  for  themselves,  subject  to  control  and  correction  only. 
A  science  teacher  should  be  able  to  show  his  pupils  how  to  give  graphic  reproductions 
of  what  they  have  learned.  Whatever  drawing  might  be  necessary  for  this  purpose 
should  not  however  be  presented  ready  made  to  scholars,  but  should  be  drawn  by 
the  teacher  on  the  large  scale  on  the  slate  or  board  before  their  eyes.  If  the 
teacher,  besides  his  instruction  proper,  has  to  furnish  the  material  for  study  (e.  g., 
plants,  &c.),  prepare  demonstrations,  lead  excursions  into  the  field,  and  have  charge 
of  the  natural  history  collections  of  the  scholars,  it  is  clear  that  a  great  burden  is 
laid  upon  him,  which  is  all  the  greater  because  natural  science  teaching  is  by  itself 
more  fatiguing  than  other  branches,  since  it  requires  the  guidance  of  each  individual 
scholar,  and  because  the  attention  of  the  teacher  must  be  divided  between  the  differ¬ 
ent  scholars,  the  material  for  demonstration,  and  the  progress  of  the  instruction. 

The  natural  science  school  book  should  be  used  only  as  a  book  of  reference  in  re¬ 
viewing,  as  a  means  of»saviug  writing,  for  recalling  to  memory  the  things  observed 
in  the  course  of  study,  as  a  help  in  looking  up  modes  of  expression,  aud  particularly 
as  a  general  model.  It  should  remain  closed  while  teaching  is  going  on.  It  ought, 
above  all,  to  be  in  every  respect  up  to  the  times  in  its  subject  matter,  and  while  being 
as  brief  as  possible  it  should  afford  an  accurate  and  complete  selection  of  topics.  It 
would  be  a  great  mistake  if  the  school  book  were  made  a  transcript  of  the  course  of 
teaching.  It  ought  therefore  to  have  a  systematic  and  not  a  methodical  arrangement, 
so  that  at  the  end  of  the  course  it  would  serve  as  a  general  summary  of  the  observa¬ 
tions  and  inductions  made  by  the  scholars.  It  is  indispensable  for  scholars  to  prepare 
their  own  descriptions  and  drawings  and  work  up  their  notes  in  the  form  of  small 
treatises  or  dissertations  notwithstanding  a  simultaneous  use  of  the  school  book. 

Methods  of  instruction  are  generally  faulty  in  aiming  at  a  practical  training  for 
some  business  career  at  a  stage  where  a  general  training  of  the  mind  is  the  first  essen¬ 
tial,  and  in  attributing  too  much  weight  to  systematic  instruction.  The  proper 
plan  of  instruction  is  to  make  at  the  outset  demands  which  all  the  scholars  can  meet, 
and  not  to  lead  a  few  qualified  scholars  to  a  higher  mark.  The  real  master  is 
the  one  who  restricts  the  scope  of  the  labors  of  his  pupils  but  is  able  to  bring  theu^ 
all  to  the  limit  he  has  set.  By  placing  his  requirements  upon  them  too  high  he  antici¬ 
pates  the  aim  of  the  higher  schools,  and  the  indigestibility  of  the  material  dulls  the 
minds  of  his  pupils  and  disturbs  the  quiet  development  of  their  thinking  powers,  or 
a  too  early  maturity  makes  them  indifferent  to  further  effort. 

In  this  department  of  instruction  no  repeating  from  memory  things  not  observed 


l>y  tlie  students  themselves  and  no  mere  reproduction  of  school  hook  information 
should  he  asked  for  either  in  the  examinations  or  hy  inspectors.  Stereotyped  ques¬ 
tions  and  answers  give  no  satisfaction,  hut  the  aim  should  he  to  have  the  scholars  give 
answers  to  the  questions  asked  them  in  their  own  language,  and  not  that  of  their 
teachers  or  school  hooks.  The  inspector  should  look  not  so  much  at  the  variety  of 
information  the  scholars  possess  as  at  their  ability  and  skill  in  acquiring  knowledge. 
It  is  not  so  desirable  for  scholars  to  know  many  things  as  to  thoroughly  master  and 
consider  from  all  sides  the  limited  amount  of  knowledge  they  have  already  acquired. 
Moreover,  the  inspector  should  see  to  it  that  the  phenomena  of  every  day  life  and  the 
common  objects  of  nature  are  used  as  material  for  practice  in  observation.  Instead  of 
permitting  scholars  to  report  upon  out-of-the-way  things  which  they  have  never  seen 
themselves,  he  should  see  whether  they  know  how  to  treat  objects,  whether  known 
to  them  or  new,  which  they  have  actually  observed.  He  will  have  occasion  to  notice 
that  very  often  a  scholar  who  makes  an  excellent  showing  where  his  knowledge  has 
come  from  memorizing  without  observation,  is  unable  to  recognize  an  object  sub¬ 
mitted  to  him  even  if  he  has  already  described  it  from  the  text  book.  Acting  upon 
the  hints  above  given,  inspectors  are  recommended  to  notice  how  text  books  are  used 
in  teaching,  how  the  demonstrations  are  carried  out,  whether  and  in  what  way  the 
material  and  verbal  errors  of  the  pupils  are  corrected  by  the  teachers,  whether  teachers 
make  their  pupils  speak  only  in  general  terms,  and  finally  what  sort  of  dissertations 
or  treatises  the  scholars  have  made  aside  from  the  text  book. 

It  is  clear  from  the  foregoing  that  every  school  ought  to  be  provided  with  a  col¬ 
lection  of  material  and  apparatus  for  demonstration.  Too  much  demonstration  should 
not  be  allowed  at  one  time,  but  no  lesson  ought  to  pass  without  laying  before  the 
scholars  the  things  which  they  are  studying.  Every  scholar  should  be  furnished  with 
a  good  lens  for  studying  more  closely  very  small  objects.  This  lens  will  also  prove 
useful  in  many  ways  in  after  life. 

It  is  advisable  to  begin  instruction  in  scientific  observation  with  plants,  because 
every  scholar  can  bring  with  him  into  school  a  perfectly  good  specimen  of  some  of 
the  numerous  plants  about  him.  The  species  to  be  studied  must  be  carefully  selected 
from  the  great  number  at  disposal,  so  as  to  make  a  beginning  with  the  simplest  and 
plainest  forms,  and  bring  in  representatives  of  all  the  principal  groups  of  the  vege¬ 
table  kingdom.  It  would  be  advantageous  in  this  connection  to  select  specimens  of 
useful  and  poisonous  plants  for  study,  whereby  the  sentiments  of  those  who  demand 
a  practical  tendency  in  scientific  teaching  would  be  regarded.  Inasmuch  as  instruc¬ 
tion  in  botany  is  limited  to  summer,  plenty  of  fresh  material  is  always  at  hand.  But 
it  is  necessary  for  the  school  to  have  a  herbarium  of  the  plants  and  vegetable  products 
of  the  region,  so  that  at  the  general  review  later  in  the  year  the  scholars  can  have 
furnished  them  whatever  details  they  may  have  forgotten. 

As  a  rule  specimens  of  animals  and  minerals  cannot  be  brought  into  the  school  room 
by  the  scholars,  nor  can  every  scholar  be  provided  with  a  specimen.  In  such  cases 
one  illustration  must  serve  for  demonstration  for  the  whole  class,  and  it  cannot  be 
too  large,  too  well  drawn,  and  too  distinct.  Moreover,  the  school  can  have  a  toler¬ 
ably  large  collection  of  the  commoner  kinds  of  insects,  snails,  &c.,  kept  in  small 
glass  cases  that  cau  be  distributed  to  the  scholars  during  the  recitation.  Of  such  ani¬ 
mals,  plants,  and  apparatus  as  cannot  be  provided  in  their  natural  condition,  the 
school  should  have  as  large  and  attractive  representations  as  possible.  In  addition 
to  these  natural  objects,  apparatus,  and  pictures,  some  technical,  microscopical,  and 
anatomical  preparations  should  be  added,  and,  if  possible,  an  aquarium,  some  house 
plants,  &c.  This  collection  need  not  be  large  and  cumbersome,  for  a  small  but  good 
selection  of  as  striking  and  consequently  of  as  interesting  specimens  as  possible,  pref¬ 
erably  of  our  most  ordinary  domestic  species,  will  be  of  the  most  service  and  least  cost. 
Such  a  collection  should  only  contain  representations  for  illustrating  the  principal 
systematic  groups,  the  colors  and  forms  of  animals  at  different  stages  of  life  and  sea¬ 
sons  of  the  year,  and  for  showing  the  relation  bet  ween  form,  color,  and  abode  of  ani- 


mals.  A  few  exotics  would  serve  to  sliow  tlie  differences  between  organisms  of  other 
lands  and  of  our  own.  The  collection  may  also  contain  specimens  of  plant®  and  ani¬ 
mals  of  technical  importance,  ani  mal  and  vegetable  products,  the  important  parts  of 
animals  and  plants  (such  as  fruits,  skeletons,  skulls),  animal  dwellings,  Ac.  Arti¬ 
cles  sent  to  schools  by  private  individuals  in  order  that  posterity  may  read  thqjiames 
of  the  donors  on  the  labels  generally  serve  no  useful  purpose  and  take  up*  valuable 
space. 

It  would  be  a  good  plan  for  the  proper  authorities  of  the  canton  to  make  lists  of  the 
articles  needed  at  each  school,  make  it  obligatory  to  supply  them,  and  inform  the 
teachers  where  they  can  obtain  them  of  good  quality  and  at  the  least  cost.  If  pur¬ 
chases  were  made  in  common  the  collectiohs  could  be  obtained  at  a  much  less  cost. 
The  expense  should  not  deter  the  boards  from  making  such  purchases,  for  these  means 
of  teaching  are  just  as  important  to  schools  as  the  other  appurtenances,  such  as  the 
school-houses,  the  benches,  Ac.  At  any  rate  the  teachers  themselves,  with  the  aid  of 
their  scholars,  friends  of  the  school,  hunters,  foresters,  farmers,  &c.,  can  add  to  the 
collection  many  instructive  objects  without  any  expense  of  money.  In  this  way  the 
complete  natural  history  of  evary  locality  can  be  illustrated.  And  such  a  collection 
will  be  of  scientific  value,  particularly  if  it  is  properly  arranged  and  named  with  the 
help,  perhaps,  of  kindly  disposed  scientific  men,  and  in  this  case  it  will  aid  the  scholars 
in  arranging  their  own  collections.  For  these  purposes,  and  in  order  that  it  may  be 
a  constant  source  ot  instruction,  the  collection  should  be  always  accessible,  if  not  in 
the  school  room  itself,  where  it  would  be  exposed  to  dust  and  dirt,  at  any  rate  in  an 
adjoining  room  well  lighted  and  provided  with  neat  glass  cases  for  containing  the 
specimens. 

Natural  history  teaching  would  be  greatly  facilitated  if  the  scholars  were  compelled 
to  make  small  collections  of  their  own  —  not  formal  museums,  but  limited  collec 
tions  of  typical  specimens  of  the  commonest  plants,,  animals,  and  minerals  of  the 
neighborhood,  especially  of  such  objects  as  have  been  studied  and  can  be  easily  pre¬ 
pared  by  the  scholars  themselves  (this  would  exclude  all  stuffed  animals).  Such  col¬ 
lections  could,  of  course,  be  enlarged  by  articles  brought  by  relatives  or  friends  who 
have  tra  velled  abroad,  or  which  might  even  be  purchased  occasionally  for  trifling  sums. 
Any  one  object  in  such  a  collection  (e.  g.,  a  leaf  or  a  specimen  of  a  mineral)  can  be  repeat¬ 
edly  figured  by  the  scholars  from  different  points  of  view,  and  so  give  occasion  for  the 
habit  of  a  thorough,  many  sided  study  of  even  a  common  thing.  At  the  same  time 
these  collections  give  practice  in  determining  (classifying)  and  arranging  specimens. 
They  afford  recreation  to  the  whole  body,  and  particularly  to  the  eye,  which  has  to 
accommodate  itself  to  distance  while  collecting  in  the  open  air,  and  so  finds  relief 
from  the  close  attention  of  the  school  room.  So,  also,  if  scholars  prepare  the  boxes 
and  cases  for  preserving  their  specimens,  they  acquire  dexterity  and  adroitness. 
This  kind  of  work,  which  requires  much  time,  may  be  put  off  until  vacation  in  order 
not  to  interfere  with  other  branches  of  study.  The  school  will  aid  the  plan  of  hav¬ 
ing  scholars  make  natural  history  collections  by  planning  little  excursions,  placing 
utensils  and  apparatus  for  making  the  collections  at  the  disposal  of  the  scholars,  and 
permitting  them  to  determine  and  arrange  their  collections  in  the  school  museum 
with  the  help  and  under  the  control  of  the  teachers.  The  latter  must  take  care  that 
making  collections  does  not  become  a  rage  with  the  pupils,  and  all  tendency  to  cruelty 
must  be  checked. 

Objections  to  this  practice  of  making  collections,  on  the  ground  that  it  requires  too 
much  time,  money,  and  labor,  and  turns  scholars  away  from  other  branches  of  study, 
are  unfounded.  The  recreation  it  affords  renders  scholars  all  the  more  willing  to  turn 
to  other  studies  with  fresh  invigoration.  Parents  also  who  at  first  look  askance  at 
this  mode  of  study  soon  become  favorably  disposed  to  it  as  soon  as  they  find  out  how 
decidedly  it  sharpens  the  perceptions  of  their  children,  develops  their  capabilities, 
increases  their  enjoyment  of  life  and  of  nature,  and  also  has  a  healthy  moral  effect  in 
taking  them  away  from  fatiguing  parades  and  other  more  hurtful  pastimes.  Every 


teacher  who  understands  howto  direct  the  activity  of  his  scholars  in  this  respect  into 
good  p  „ths  will  earn  the  thanks  of  their  parents  and  their  own  in  later  years. 

For  the  purpose  of  illustrating  the  manner  of  collecting  pointed  out  in  the  discourse 
a  model  of  a  collection  made  byscholars  of  different  schools  was  shown  the  assembly. 
Every  school  should  have  such  a  model.  It  consisted  of — 

(1)  A  morphological  herbarium  and  a  collection  of  fruits  and  seeds  made  by  a  scholar 
of  the  first  class  of  the  canton  school  in  Aarau. 

(2)  A  small  zoological  collection  of  a  scholar  of  the  second  class  of  the  canton  school 
in  Aarau. 

(3)  A  collection  of  models  of  crystals  in  gypsum  made  by  a  scholar  of  the  third  class 
of  the  canton  school  in  Aarau. 

(4)  A  mineralogical  collection  made  by  a  third  class  of  the  canton  school  in  Aarau. 

(5)  A  small  local  geognostic  collection  made  by  the  scholars  of  a  fourth  class  of  the 
canton  school  in  Aarau. 

(6)  Models  of  a  mineralogical,  rock,  and  geognostic  collection  for  a  secondary  school, 
which  with  some  modifications  might  be  collected  by  scholars  of  the  third  and  fourth 
classes. 

All  the  collections  are  of  such  a  character  that  they  can  be  of  excellent  service  to 
the  school  in  natural  history  studies.  Nos.  2,  4,  5,  and  6  are  in  suitable  chests  made 
by  the  scholars,  and  every  collection  is  in  a  specially  constructed  box  so  that  it  can 
be  packed  up  and  shipped  with  safety. 


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